Sharper Views of Apollo 12, 14, 17 Sites in New Images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

The Arizona State University team that oversees the imaging system on board NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has released the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 sites, more clearly showing the paths made when the astronauts explored these areas.

NASA Mars Research Helps Find Buried Water On Earth

A NASA-led team has used radar sounding technology developed to explore the subsurface of Mars to create high-resolution maps of freshwater aquifers buried deep beneath an Earth desert, in the first use of airborne sounding radar for aquifer mapping.

Human Brain Evolution, New Insight Through X-Rays: Experiment Reveals Brain Shape of an Early Human Ancestor

A paper published in Science reveals the highest resolution and most accurate X-ray scan ever made of the brain case of an early human ancestor. The insight derived from this data is like a powerful beacon on the hazy landscape of brain evolution across the transition from Australopithecus to Homo.

Small Distant Galaxies Host Supermassive Black Holes, Astronomers Find

Using the Hubble Space Telescope to probe the distant universe, astronomers have found supermassive black holes growing in surprisingly small galaxies. The findings suggest that central black holes formed at an early stage in galaxy evolution.

Shake, Rattle and … Power Up? New Device Generates Energy from Small Vibrations

sensor networks can do everything from supervising factory machinery to tracking environmental pollution to measuring the movement of buildings and bridges. Working together, distributed sensors can monitor activity along an oil pipeline or throughout a forest, keeping track of multiple variables at a time.

Chromosomal Test By Molecular Biologists Determines Cancer Spread

A new biopsy test, created by molecular biologists, can tell ocular melanoma patients if theirs is the kind that will spread. Using very thin needles, surgeons collect cells from tumors and analyze them. If tumors are missing a copy of chromosome three, patients are at high risk of having their cancer spread. While there's no cure for ocular melanoma, patients who are at higher risk can be followed more closely and put on experimental treatments.

The Allen Institute for Brain Science has announced the discovery of a new class of cells in the spinal cord that act like neural stem cells, offering a fresh avenue in the search for therapies to treat spinal cord injury and disease. The research team utilized the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, a finely detailed genome-wide map of gene expression throughout the mouse spinal cord, to compare the genes expressed, or turned on, in adult spinal cord radial glia with those found in other neural stem cells, revealing a signature set of 122 genes that indicate the likeness of these cells to classic neural stem cells.

Brain tumor researchers have found that brain tumors arise from cancer stem cells living within tiny protective areas formed by blood vessels in the brain. Killing those cells is a promising strategy to eliminate tumors and prevents them from re-growing. The researchers have found that drugs that block new blood vessel formation can destroy the protected areas and stop cancer from

New Class of Stem Cell-Like Cells Discovered Offers Possibility for Spinal Cord Repair

The Allen Institute for Brain Science has announced the discovery of a new class of cells in the spinal cord that act like neural stem cells, offering a fresh avenue in the search for therapies to treat spinal cord injury and disease. The research team utilized the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, a finely detailed genome-wide map of gene expression throughout the mouse spinal cord, to compare the genes expressed, or turned on, in adult spinal cord radial glia with those found in other neural stem cells, revealing a signature set of 122 genes that indicate the likeness of these cells to classic neural stem cells.

Acute Radiation Syndrome Disease Briefing now freely available in pdf format

The Acute Radiation Syndrome Disease Briefing has been added to support those involved in drug research and development projects in this area. As of May 2011, this report has been updated to include expanded Targets and Treatments sections, and three new sections (Diagnosis, Classification of Severity, and Radiomitigants), in addition to an increased number of tables and figures.

Metabolic Syndrome

According to the American Heart Association, metabolic syndrome is becoming increasingly common in the US—the organization estimates that more than 50 million Americans have it. Worldwide, South Asians are at an increased risk for metabolic syndrome. Other at-risk groups include people with a personal or family history of diabetes, and women with polycystic ovary syndrome. In this analysis, Special Topics examines the literature on metabolic syndrome over the past decade and over the past two years. Learn more...